Political protest movements tend to have a mind of their own.
The protests that erupted over George Floyd in 2020 were centered on police brutality at first, but that furor was also used as fuel to push for reform for a number of issues including cannabis, prison reform and even climate change.
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In 2023, that same type of political furor on the right has been aimed at what is loosely defined as "woke" culture and the culprits who are perceived to be the biggest backers of the ideology: corporations.
The culture wars have been bubbling on social media for years, but for the first time large corporations were dragged into the fray in the summer of 2023.
Anheuser-Busch InBev's (BUD) -) Bud Light brand was the biggest recipient this year, but it wasn't the only one.
Technically, Target (TGT) -) already admitted defeat when the company first starting pulling LGBTQ-themed merchandise from its stores.
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But CFO Michael Fiddelke officially waived the white flag on the company's earnings call When he said "traffic and top-line trends were affected by the reaction to our pride assortment which launched in the middle of May."
The number of large corporations that promote LGBTQ inclusion, and other social issues that fall under the "woke" umbrella, is nearly endless, so protestors have a ton of work ahead of them if they truly wish to cripple "woke" companies.
As for Target, the company says that it is still committed to the LGBTQ community. "The heart of our purpose is our commitment to bring joy to all the families we serve and that really is all families... you should expect to see us to continue to do that over the years to come," the company said during the earnings call.
But it will make some modifications to its approach.
"Some of the changes we'll make to our heritage month collections going forward will look like this: We'll have a slightly more focused assortment and will evolve our store and digital presentations, and we're going to reconsider the mix of our own national brands with our external partners," said Target chief growth officer Christina Hennington.
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